Exporters urged to target Asia markets

Domestic exporters should capitalise on the rising import growth rates
of Asian countries and boost exports to those markets, Deputy Minister
of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien said April 7.

Addressing the 2011 Export Promotion Forum, Bien said that the yearly
import growth rates of China and India were currently 18-23
percent, and were forecast to stay at 17-19 percent compared to 4-5
percent in the US .

"Domestic exporters should take
advantage of the geographical distance and cultural similarities of the
Asian markets, and expand their shares," Bien said.

Bien
also urged domestic exporters to update information and procedures
related to tariff preferences in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) as
Vietnam 's exports that enjoyed tax incentives remained limited.
Vietnam has so far signed AFTA's with China , India , New Zealand ,
the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Japan , and is in negotiations
with the EU and US.

Attendees at the forum also said that
exporters should concentrate on high-tech products, saying the country's
export ratio of those products was much lower than that of other ASEAN
countries./.